bböp Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 Wilco’s second of three Japanese shows on this brief run, and its final one in Tokyo, looks to have been the barnburner of the two nights, as expected. Thanks to the folks at Wilcoworld, we once again have the setlist to tide us over as we await reports from our correspondent on the ground: Hell Is Chrome Handshake Drugs Pittsburgh I Am My Mother Cruel Country I Am Trying To Break Your Heart Kamera Side With The Seeds Random Name Generator At Least That’s What You Said Hummingbird Evicted Box Full Of Letters Jesus, Etc. Impossible Germany Love Is Everywhere (Beware) Theologians Heavy Metal Drummer I’m The Man Who Loves You A Shot In The Arm ————————————————— California Stars (with Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart of Finom on vocals and Spencer Tweedy on drums and shakers) Red-Eyed-And Blue> I Got You (At The End Of The Century)> Outtasite (Outta Mind) I’m A Wheel 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brian F. Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 I know my opinion is an outlier among a fan base that is content to hear Yankee Hotel Foxtrot ad infinitum, but I would be disappointed in these sets if I were at these shows. Cousin isn't even six months old, and they're down to two songs from it at the March 7 and March 8 shows. Wilco seems to be moving on from it almost as fast as they mostly moved on from Cruel Country. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bböp Posted March 9 Author Share Posted March 9 39 minutes ago, Brian F. said: seems to be moving on from it almost as fast as they mostly moved on from Cruel Country. Now that’s not entirely true…they play Cruel Country (preceded by I Am My Mother) at almost every gig.* *tongue firmly in cheek 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brian F. Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Like I said, "mostly" moved on. Having witnessed the ironclad "Mother"/"Country" early-set bloc about ten times in October, I'm keenly aware that this is primarily how they are choosing to represent that outstanding, sprawling double-album (with the occasional tailless bird and "Falling Apart" sprinkled in). I'm just glad I got to see "The Empty Condor" at Solid Sound because that one may never appear again. (And, really, how could I die in peace without witnessing that syllable-stretching opus?) Of the four one-play wonders from Cruel Country, I feel like "Tonight's the Day" has a shot at a revival at some point and "Darkness Is Cheap" seems like it might pop up at Jeff's solo gigs at some point as "Sad Kind of Way" has a couple of times. I know at least one fellow member of the VC community who missed Solid Sound that year who is dying to hear that one. (That's two death references in this post; I keep forgetting that nobody dies anymore.) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
theashtraysays Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Once again thanks to the bbop for getting this started… If you haven’t read my comments about night one in Japan yet, do that first. My thumbs can’t handle repeating all the stuff that was the same like the entry process which was the same but with higher numbers. On we go… Namba Hatch is located right next to Haneda airport, and was a lot like EX Roppongi, but bigger. Even wider room, even higher ceiling, and deeper. The standing floor was sloped upward a bit (I didn’t notice if there was a “ledge” anywhere back, and also had rails going across the floor left to right about every ten feet. They did have lip speakers and the sound was exquisite all over. And the bar situation was much improved though I still skipped the drink and just grabbed a water after the show (which is downright civilized really). Once again the 30 minute doors-to-show time was wholly inadequate for the higher numbers to catch the full opener. Again on to the show… The setlist started off with some nice changes right off the bat, with Hell is Chrome opening up. The lyric flub came a little later in the set on Side with the Seeds this time, Still not a lot of banter, but Jeff did opt to “localize” things by swapping “konichiwa” for the “hello” in IATTBYH” which was quite well received. And he again apologized for not being in Japan for ten years, promising that he would learn more Japanese for next time and that they wouldn’t wait ten more years for the next time. He apparently spotted someone with a hat that said “AM”, and complimented him on it before playing Box, adding that this song is from that record, and next time we want everyone wearing that hat. Returning from the encore break, Glenn once again feigned having something to say and stepping up to the mic, only to back off and head to his kit. Once again Jeff asked if he had something to say but he just said “sorry”. The encore with cali stars and the all-rock closers was a barn burner and the crowd ate it up. Wheel was not on the printed setlist but was added and was a very pleasant surprise. One humorous moment. The stage setup included the hanging cords in the back for projections, along with a small section of hanging cords flanking the stage in the front (theyve used that setup recently). During Wheel ( I think?), Pat tried to move toward the front of the stage for some guitar antics, sweeping through the hanging cords on his side. Unfortunately, the headstock of his tele got woefully tangled up in the cords, basically imprisoning him to remain in that very spot for the rest of the song. The rest of the band found this highly amusing, and Pat’s attempts to both play and detangle himself were not effective. His tech Austin came over to help but could do no better. He finally brought over a guitar stand that Pat used to set the guitar down on after the song, still entangled. After the band exited, Ashwin and Austin worked a good five minutes to detangle it, with a hearty round of applause from those of us in the audience who’d watched the whole thing. All in all this was the more rocking of the two Tokyo shows, and seemed to show the band shaking off any jet lag from coming over. Off to get some sleep and hit show number three tomorrow… Cheers, Vince 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lost highway Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 ^ It's good of you to find a font size that my old man can see without his readers, but it's a bit overwhelming. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
theashtraysays Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 1 hour ago, lost highway said: ^ It's good of you to find a font size that my old man can see without his readers, but it's a bit overwhelming. Yeah sorry about that. Copy/paste while I was offline on a plane. There’s probly a way to fix it but I’m a Luddite. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lost highway Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 8 hours ago, theashtraysays said: Yeah sorry about that. Copy/paste while I was offline on a plane. There’s probly a way to fix it but I’m a Luddite. Ha, no worries. It's worth a read either way. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
befubashi Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 Huh, they Glenn and Jeff did a similar schtick at the beginning of the encore in Osaka. He whispers something to Jeff, Jeff asks if he wants to say something, and then he tells the audience that Glenn just wanted to say "sorry". So that was a pre-planned bit? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lost highway Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 8 hours ago, befubashi said: Huh, they Glenn and Jeff did a similar schtick at the beginning of the encore in Osaka. He whispers something to Jeff, Jeff asks if he wants to say something, and then he tells the audience that Glenn just wanted to say "sorry". So that was a pre-planned bit? In my mind Glenn had been working on and off for the last six months on Duo Lingo and was getting psyched to address the crowd in Japanese, expressing admiration for their many beautiful cultural contributions to the world, but then clammed up under pressure. I suppose we'll never know. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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